What is it?

What does it promise?

"Get the scoop on the latest and greatest travel, entertainment and local deals and purchase them directly from your phone."

Is it easy to use?

The pretty home screen gives way to a simple list of categories that let you select the day's top 20 deals, local deals, deals in other cities, travel deals and a final section entitled Inspire Me. I experienced some initial confusion as deals in the first few categories are not displayed in any order, with theatre deals butting up against holiday offers and restaurant bargains. Only in the travel deals section are there categories that filter deals into specific areas (cruises, hotels, flights, rail and road, etc).

The Inspire Me section contains a photo mosaic (which displays a collage of photographs showing among other things scenic travel spots, women being pampered and theatres), a map that uses geo-location to find nearby deals, and a scrolling "deal roller".

Users are sent to external websites if they wish to go ahead and purchase an offer.

Is it fun?

It's pleasant enough looking at where you could jet to on a whim. I spotted a 13-night cruise to the Canaries from Southampton that looks like a lot of fun indeed – especially at £400 off the original price of £999.

Is it pretty?

The home screen offers a beautiful illustration of hotels, planes and concert venues rendered in a computer-generated 3D style, while the icons used across the app are crisp and intuitive. Then there's the photo mosaic and the deal roller, gimmicks perhaps, but ones that offer an aesthetically pleasing way of looking for bargains.

Should you download it?

Public Domain

About 2.5 million people use the Travelzoo website each week and a lot of work goes into selecting the deals – the company says 250 "deal experts" research, evaluate and test thousands of deals to find eligible offers to put in the top 20 section. For that reason alone, this app seems better than your average voucher code offering.

When we tested what it had in the way of local deals in London, it came up with a range of entertainment deals and experiences including a sunset kayak tour on the Thames. Maybe not for everyone, but a refreshing change from the teeth-whitening promos that clog up some other apps.

Some users may find it frustrating that deals are displayed with little sense of order, but that's really a minor quibble. The app is free and as such is well worth a look. But, as with anything travel-related, once you are redirected to a third party check they are Abta and Atol-registered in case the worst happens.